The Real Estate Foundation of BC supports sustainable real estate and land use practices for the benefit of British Columbians through its grants program and other initiatives. PlaceSpeak was awarded 1 of the 11 approved grants in June 2011 to develop a third iteration of the Greater Vancouver Urban Futures Survey, which will be conducted online for the first time in its history. The Urban Futures Survey will enhance information available about issues in Greater Vancouver and the views of the public.

Each applicant must be sponsored by a non-profitable organization; PlaceSpeak is honoured to be sponsored by Lambda Alpha International—the honorary society for the advancement of land economics.

The Urban Futures Survey was initially conducted in the early 1970’s. The results of the first survey shaped the preparation of “Creating Our Future” in 1990, British Columbia’s regional agenda for the next decade. Creating Our Future formed the “Livable Region Strategic Plan” and “Transportation 2020″ plans. Colleen Hardwick’s father Walter Hardwick led the Urban Futures Survey which was extremely influential in planning future development in of Greater Vancouver. The results of the third version of this survey will be used to compare with the results of the first 2, as well as learn how citizens feel the future of their province should unfold. PlaceSpeak’s web-based platform will allow this survey to be conducted online. This will enable the 2012 survey to reach a broader demographic of residents than previously possible..